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Monthly Archives: July 2010

Smartphones and the Opera

I will soon be the owner of a shiny new smartphone, from which I will be able to (but will most likely refrain from) broadcasting various details of my life and activities. Announcing one’s activities, no matter what they might be, is growing more commonplace, and the opera is no exception. Take, for example, this [...]

The Operatic Orgasm

Here’s a small operatic tidbit from internet/publishing phenomenon PostSecret: I’m sure most opera-lovers can identify scores of operatic moments that remind them of this particular biological event. I know that I discovered opera and boys at roughly the same time.

Opera for Major Life Changes: Les mamelles de Tirésias

I will shortly be beginning a new job, and in seeking out a thematically appropriate opera, was struck by how few operas deal with the question of work and vocation. I suppose this is a function of many opera plots featuring characters who are either divine beings or members of the nobility – none of [...]

Learning to Love Modern Opera

Like a lot of people, I learned to love opera by listening to Puccini. There’s a reason why people who rarely go to the opera will buy a ticket to La Boheme and bawl their eyes out at the end – Puccini was a master of isolating the “good parts” (i.e. immediately, popularly appealing) of [...]

Welcome, cokemachineglow Readers!

To my great delight, I’ve been written up in online indie mag cokemachineglow.com’s blog Daily Ops! Here are links to the posts mentioned in Conrad Amenta’s thoughtful post: Opera on vinyl The opera crowd (People who Like Opera) Can Opera Ever Really be “Accessible”? “What dangerous ninnies romantic male leads can be” (Five Operas with a Disturbing [...]

Sometimes Blogs Lead to Good Things

So, back in January, I finally started an opera blog after many years of thinking about it. I was a bit insecure about this endeavour, and wasn’t quite sure how I’d fit into the online opera world, but went ahead with it anyway. I wasn’t really sure what would come of it, but I thought [...]